204 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
P rim ulas at Forest Hill. 
A Visit to Messrs. Carter & Co.’s Nursery. 
On a wintry day the other week we tra¬ 
velled down to Forest Hill to see the dis¬ 
play of Chinese Primroses in the nur¬ 
sery of Messrs. J. Carter and Co.., 
High Holborn, London. The Primulas 
are, of course, grown especially for seed, 
and fertilisation having been in operation 
for some days we did not see the first 
opened flowers. Anyway, there were 
still flowers in abundance, the plants 
being practically, in most cases, ful.ly de¬ 
veloped and the most of the trusses in 
bloom, except in the case of a few de¬ 
cidedly late varieties. About fifteen thou¬ 
sand plants are grown in 48-size pots, and 
these being housed in low span-roofed 
houses had every advantage of the avail¬ 
able light. The broad staging on either 
side of the walk of the houses was simply 
a flowery mass when viewed from end to 
end. The houses are about 125 ft. long, 
but are in several divisions, and the par¬ 
titions being of glass the view was 
quite uninterrupted from end to end. 
Single Varieties. 
Not far from the entrance was the beau¬ 
tiful variety Princess May which has been 
well known amongst gardeners for some 
years past on account of the very large 
size of its beautiful pink flow’ers fading 
to blush with a greenish orange eye. The 
trusses are very large, and carried well 
above the light green foliage. The 
variety has been in commerce for nine 
years, and has not been superseded. A 
new variety named Holborn Coral rightly 
deserves that title, for the flowers are of 
a rich coral-red with a buff-orange eye 
and very freely produced in large trusses. 
King Edward is somewhat older,- but still 
rightly described as a new variety with 
pure white, finely fringed flowers.' The 
crisped leaves on large plants measure 
5 in. to 6 in. across, yet this in no way 
interferes With the production of flowers. 
Magenta has flowers of that colour with 
dark stalks to the leaves. Giant White is 
notably a late variety with pure white 
flowers,, although only a few of the plants 
were in bloom. A very distinct variety 
was Salmon (selected), having deep rosy 
salmon flowers. Holborn Rose describes 
the colour, but it is also a Fern-leavec! 
variety with dark petioles. Holborn 
Crested may be described as a carmine- 
pink, beautifully speckled with white, and 
very distinct from anything else. Rose 
Queen is a delicate blush rather than 
rose, but it is very choice in its way, with 
light green foliage. The large trusses of 
Holborn Carmine are thrown well above 
the foliage, and have flowers of a warm 
carmine. 
A very handsome flow-er is Duchess, 
which might be described as an Auricula¬ 
eyed Primula, wfith a carmine zone of good 
width round the eye, the rest being white. 
Somewhat peculiar in its way is Carter’s 
Bouquet, which has well developed foliage 
covering the pots, above which rises a 
a large .truss of flowers, each with a bract 
like a small leaf, so that the whole truss 
resembles a bouquet of white flowers sur¬ 
rounded with leaves. Carter's Scarlet is 
well named, for the flowers are decidedly 
brilliant, and make a contrast with the 
paler varieties alongside of it. Another 
choice variety that has held its own for 
some time is Holborn Queen, which is 
blush-white, with an orange centre and 
Fern-leaved. 
There are two forms named Elaine, one 
with Palm leaves and pure white flowers, 
while the other is named Elaine, Fern¬ 
leaved, so that the two are quite distinct 
for decorative purposes. 
Double Primulas. 
Notwithstanding the large size and the 
bright colours of the single varieties, 
there is still a considerable demand for 
double flowers, as they last longer in 
bloom, and as a matter of fact are more 
durable in the cut state when required 
for such purposes. The variety named 
Vivid is of dwarf habit, with carmine 
flowers that are very freely produced. 
Double Pink is of a light hue, as ’he 
name indicates, and the foliage is also 
light green. Princess of Wales is a white 
variety, but occasionally shows a red 
streak or bar in the flowers when closely 
inspected. The colour is also indicated 
in Lilac Queen. An early and very free 
flowering variety is Snowflake, with soft 
blush-white flowers. All of the above are 
very free flowering, and having stood the 
test of time, are grown in some quantity. 
Primula. Steilata. 
Some varieties of this strain have been 
carefully selected and named. They are, 
of course, a strain of the Chinese Primula, 
with rather taller flower stems and smaller 
flowers than the ordinary type, very freely 
produced, and the plants being of grace¬ 
ful habit, they are even more useful for 
decorative purposes than the large 
flowered ones. Steilata Pink, Steilata 
Salmon, and Steilata Crimson indicate 
the colours. That named Salmon has a 
distinct dark zone round the eye, and 
both that and Crimson might be described 
as Auricula-eyed varieties, the latter hav¬ 
ing a zone of maroon round the eye. 
Each plant sends up a large number" of 
trusses. 
Other Plants. 
Cinerarias are favourites at Forest Hill, 
and usually grown in quantity. One 
house, measuring 125 ft. by 18 ft. is full 
of healthy plants in 24-size pots. These, 
of course, will not be in bloom till May, 
but at present they are in splendid condi¬ 
tion. Another house was entirely filled 
with the stock types of the different varie¬ 
ties of Chinese Primula selected so as to 
keep them absolutely true to type. An¬ 
other house was filled with various Primu¬ 
las in bloom, such as Steilata Blue, Stei¬ 
lata White, Prince of Wales, Holborn 
Blue, Giant White, and Orange King. 
The last named is a remarkably distinct 
variety, with a darker salmon edge to the 
petals. Suspended from the roof tvere 
fine baskets of Schizanthus wisetonensis. 
Another house contained a fine lot of 
Cactus Cinerarias, already 1 ft. to 2 ft. 
in height. Cineraria steilata in two 
stages of growth was noted elsewhere, so 
that this useful flower is w'ell represented. 
One large house contained some splendid 
batches of herbaceous Calceolarias in 
March 27, 
I 9°9 
6 in. and 8 in. pots, perfectly healthy and 
giving promise of a fine display. Glox¬ 
inias started early were making'good pro¬ 
gress in another house. A very peculiar 
variety of Primula named Oak Leaf had 
salmon-pink, semi-double flowers, and tri¬ 
angular, deeply cut and lobed leaves. It 
is not in commerce. Another house was 
partly filled with Japanese Pygmy trees, 
many of them being in jars or vessels of a 
peculiar form and small size. - 
Gardening Appointment. 
Mr. S. H. Hitchins, late of the Carna¬ 
tion Department with Messrs. Hugh Low 
and Co., Bush Hill Park, has been ap¬ 
pointed Carnation grower in the gardens 
at Knowsley Hall, Prescot, Lancs. 
A11 Exhibition of Flower Pictures. 
Mr. Stuart Park, who has a genius for 
flower painting, has been holding an ex¬ 
hibition of flower pictures at Glasgow 
which have been greatly admired. The 
paintings are characterised by delicacy 
and freedom of touch and marvellous 
colouring, everything but the fragrance 
of the blooms thus finely depicted having 
been transferred to the canvas. 
--M-f- 
CHRISTMAS ROSES. 
Anything that produces flowers in the 
open garden from early December up to 
early March is invaluable to those who 
love their garden—and the Helleborus is 
one of them. There are several varieties, 
though doubtless the ordinary H. niger is 
the general favourite, being so useful for 
wreathing. Helleborus^ especially the 
o-ne under notice, resents frequent inter¬ 
ference at the root, and providing the 
soil is well prepared and a suitable site 
provided, the plant should continue to be 
satisfactory for half-a-dozen years or 
more. A somewhat sheltered aspect 
should be chosen, and not too dry. In 
all cases thorough drainage must be en¬ 
sured, and as they repay for good culti¬ 
vation the site should be specially pre¬ 
pared by substituting good fibrous loam, 
manure and coarse sand for any exhausted 
soil. A south-east border admirably suits 
them in these gardens backed up by a 
high building and evergreen hedge on the 
north and west sides, a position the plants 
have thrived and remained in for the past 
14 years. The supply of flowers has 
not been so good this season, the foliage, 
too, has decayed much more than usual 
with us, which signifies that replanting 
has become necessary, but this must be 
delayed until the plants are in active 
growth, say, early June, when the whole 
stock will be lifted, divided carefully, all 
adhering soil, etc., washed from "their 
roots, the exhausted soil wheeled away, 
and new brought back. Give a space of 
2' feet between each plant and see that 
the soil is shaken well in among the roots, 
making all moderately firm, watering in 
if dry, and applying a mulch of half-de¬ 
cayed manure. See that the plants do 
not suffer for the want of w r ater up to late 
summer. In two years the plants should 
regain their usual strength and manure- 
water .should be freely eiven a year after 
planting. 
J. Mayne. 
Bicton. 
